


Strategic Thinking

by thegirlwithmanynames



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-13
Updated: 2014-05-13
Packaged: 2018-01-24 16:13:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1611386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegirlwithmanynames/pseuds/thegirlwithmanynames
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arms up. Fists clenched. Steady footing.</p>
<p>Swing once — twice — lean back, kick out — impact.</p>
<p>Fall back. Arms down. At ease.</p>
<p>Annie teaches Eren how to fight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strategic Thinking

Arms up. Fists clenched. Steady footing.

Swing once — twice — lean back, kick out —  _impact_.

Fall back. Arms down. At ease.

"How do you  _do_  that?!” comes the frustrated reply from the crumpled figure on the ground, and just for a moment, there’s a flash of a smile that crosses her face.

"Talent," she replies simply, and Jaeger groans loudly.

“ _Ugh_  — not fair.” But he’s up faster than most people she takes down, and readying himself for another try faster than she can even answer him; not that she had been planning to. “Mikasa tells me that enough. I expected different from you, Annie!” he goads without bite, stretching his arms.

She stands opposite, blinks at him, and then surveys him seriously. No talent, but determination unlike anything she’s ever seen before. No soldier’s offered heart can ever match up to the fire in Jaeger’s eyes, not when this is how he behaves even just in training. His anger makes him reckless and his next moves become obvious, but even though she can easily take him down, there’s something about him that strikes fear into her heart.

And yet…

He’s hot-headed, stupid, but  _good_. Admirable, even. Most of these soldiers are only out to save their own skins — herself included — but he wants to  _protect humanity_. Suicidal bastard, they call him; they’re wrong — she’s sparred with him, and she knows he’ll keep fighting. He’s not looking for a heroic death. He’s looking to  _live_.

When her father had warned her that humans too would be her enemies, he had not anticipated Eren Jaeger.

"Don’t expect anything from me," she tells him point-blank, and the laugh he lets out is more a bark than anything else.

"I expect you to kick my ass," he throws back in her direction, his feet planted firmly on the ground as he gets into position. If it had been anyone else, the comment would have been a joke; from Eren, it’s a challenge.

One that she’ll take. He wants to learn, after all. She’ll be his teacher.

Some of their fellow trainees (Reiner, Armin, Jean) stop to watch. She closes her vision to them. They don’t matter.

Arms up.

He takes the first swing this time, throwing it for her stomach, and he’s so predictable. All it takes is a sidestep and his own momentum throws him to the ground with a heavy  _thump_  and a grunt.

She rests her foot on his back, hard enough to keep him in place but gentle enough that she doesn’t crush him.

Arms down.

"You’ll kill yourself at this rate." A half-hearted  _oomph_  escapes him when she nudges the toe of her boot into the small of his back. “It’s not worth it.”

"What isn’t?!" he bites at her, turning his head to glare up at her angrily. "Learning hand to hand combat? Fighting you? Becoming good soldiers?"

She almost rolls her eyes.

"Learn some self-control," she says instead, lifting her foot and letting him stretch upwards. Her body is looser, not tightly wound as she usually is. Neither of them notice. "People like you are easy to read. You’ll be taken down first if you run straight into battle without thinking, no matter how strong you are. You have to know who to trust and who’s the enemy from their actions, and only  _then_  can you act — but they can’t know that you know.  _Survive_ , Eren.”

He’s on his knees in front of her now, wiping the dirt off his pants, but his eyes are trained on hers, as though he’s trying to stare right through her, right down to muscles stretched over bone.

~~( _he’s still easy to read; she’s said the right thing_ _. the most terrifying notion of all? that she truly means it._ )~~

"Hey, Annie. You should talk more often."

She eyes him without a word, crossing her arms over her chest as he pushes himself up to stand directly before her. There’s a glint in his eyes before he steps back and gets into position again.

"I’ll survive if you will."

Her eyes flick downwards as she takes her own step back. Unseen, a smile tugs her lips upwards for just a moment, and then she looks up, their eyes locking just as Eren grins.

Arms up. Fists clenched. Steady footing.

_Fight_.

**Author's Note:**

> There's really not enough fics that focus on Annie -- I guess for the primary reason being that we still don't know that much about her? Still, I wanted to explore her a little more, and I thought it'd be easiest to write her like this. Eren's a good character to bounce other people off of to find out more about them. xD
> 
> Crossposted from my tumblr, which has the same URL as my pseudonym! Hope you enjoy and are doing well. :)


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